UN pulling staff from Syria, violence near capital

Beirut: Fighting between rebels and government forces raged near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, forcing an inbound commercial jet to turn back while the UN said it was withdrawing staff because of deteriorating security conditions.

Lebanese security officials said Jihad Makdissi, a polished Foreign Ministry spokesman known for defending the regime of President Bashar al Assad in fluent English, flew from Beirut to London. But it was not immediately clear whether he had defected.

The fighting over the past few weeks in and around Damascus has been the most serious in the capital since July, when rebels captured several neighbourhoods before a swift government counteroffensive swept them out. The spike in violence recently is concentrated in the ring of mostly poor suburbs around Damascus but often bleeds into the capital itself as rebels bring their fight closer to Assad's seat of power. Assad's forces have so far repelled major rebel advances on the capital, though their hold may be slipping.

More than 40,000 people have been killed since the Syrian revolt started in March 2011.

"The security situation has become extremely difficult, including in Damascus," said Radhouane Nouicer, the UN's regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria.

Nouicer said the UN was withdrawing most of its international staff from Syria due to security issues, adding that up to one quarter of the 100 international staff working for several UN agencies could leave by week's end. There are about 900 more local staff working for the UN in Syria, officials said.

UN teams are also stopping most staff trips outside Damascus.

In another sign of deteriorating security, an Egyptian commercial jet aborted a trip to Damascus in mid-flight because of violence near the airport. The EgyptAir flight from Cairo rerouted about 30 minutes after takeoff because Egyptian officials received word from their counterparts in Damascus that the area near the airport was not safe, Egyptian airport officials said.

EgyptAir canceled all further flights to Syria for Monday and Tuesday and will decide later whether to resume flights later in the week, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

EgyptAir had just resumed flights following a three-day suspension because of violence near the airport.

Emirates airlines said on its website that all flights to Syria were suspended "until further notice."

The Britain-based opposition activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes were within three kilometers (2 miles) of the airport, which lies about 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of the city center. The state news service reported clashes in an area about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the airport. It said nothing about flight cancelations.

More than 40,000 people have been killed since the Syrian revolt started in March 2011.

Leaders of Russia - a key supporter of the Assad regime - and opposition ally Turkey discussed disagreements over Syria.

After talks in Istanbul, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the deployment of NATO antiaircraft missiles along the Turkish border could make the conflict worse.

"Creating a new potential on the border will not settle the situation but rather exacerbate it," he said. "Why would we need more shelling on the border?"

The two countries are firmly enmeshed in Syria's conflict, on opposite sides. Russia continues to back Assad, thrice protecting his regime from censure by the UN Security Council. Turkey has called for Assad's ouster and its southern border with Turkey has become a key supply line for rebel forces.

Lebanese security officials said Makdissi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman known for defending Assad crackdown on the opposition as necessary military action against "terrorists," flew from Beirut to London. It was not immediately known whether he had abandoned the regime and he did not respond to phone calls.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The US has so far declined to intervene in Syria's civil war, saying doing so could worsen the conflict.

On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated the Obama administration's position that Syrian use of chemical weapons was a "red line" whose crossing would prompt US action.

"I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people," Clinton told reporters in Prague. "But suffice it to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur."

Syria is believed to have several hundred ballistic surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads, and a US defense official said American and allied intelligence officials have detected activity around more than one of Syria's chemical weapons sites in the last week.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters about intelligence matters.

Syria's Foreign Ministry said Monday that Syria "will not use chemical weapons - if there are any - against its own people under any circumstances."